


Hunger

by kajivar



Category: Dracula Untold (2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 19:25:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17049173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kajivar/pseuds/kajivar
Summary: For laCommunarde, who wanted Vlad/Mirena "while Vlad is hungering, unfortunately, biting isn’t the only way of spreading it."





	Hunger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laCommunarde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laCommunarde/gifts).



_Once you drink, your thirst for human blood will be insatiable. But if you can resist for three days, you will return to your mortal state having sampled my power, and perhaps, saved your people._

He'd been a fool. It had seemed an easy bargain, to deny this supposed thirst for blood for three days while being given the powers to save his people. Vlad had endured unimaginable hardships growing up as a "guest" of the Turks, after all. Denying his hunger for three short days could hardly be worse. He'd gone longer without food and water before.

But now, curled in on himself on the floor of his tent, the hunger gnawing at his belly, he realized he'd been a fool. His own life was something he was prepared to give for his family, his people, his country, but not the lives of those he loved. Not his son, he'd already proven that when he'd denied the Turks. And not Mirena. Yet he'd come so close to taking that life as he'd embraced her. The scent of her blood, the sound of it pulsing through her veins...he wasn't certain how he'd summoned the willpower to push her away from him. He’d never imagined the power of the thirst.

Vlad shuddered and clutched at the silver ring on the leather thong around his throat, letting it poison him and leech his strength. Even with Mirena gone, he knew he had to weaken himself or else he might succumb to his hunger and try to hunt her down. The thought of his fangs sinking into the soft flesh of her neck tantalized him and sickened him at the same time. The creature in the cave had merely scratched his neck, then licked at the wound with its slimy tongue. How did that turn into this desperate craving? He had to get it under control, or he would never save his people.

* * *

Mirena kept up the outward appearance of the princess her people expected her to be, giving words of comfort and encouragement where needed, commending the soldiers around them for their attention to their duty, and putting on a brave face to give the people hope. Inside, however, she feared for her husband and what he had told her. She didn't understand this bargain he had struck or this thirst for blood he'd told her about, but she'd do everything in her power to help him resist and return to the man she loved again.

The path to the monastery where they intended to seek shelter wound through the forest, green and lovely in the daylight, but now that the sun was setting, the shadows began to hide danger. They were close, but the Turks were near. Where was Vlad? 

When the attack came, her mission turned to survival and protecting her son. She fled behind Dimitru, praying they were close enough to the monastery gates. Instead, they found themselves on the edge of a cliff, trapped with nowhere to run. 

One of the Turks struck down Dimitru. "Îngeraș, run!" she told her son, bracing herself to do what she could to give him time to flee. She wished she had a weapon and the skill to use it. If only she had these powers Vlad now possessed.

"Where is your prince now, my Lady?" the Turk taunted, slowly drawing closer, savoring her fear.

Then Vlad was there, or at least, she assumed it was him. Who else could it be? The horde of bats swooped around the Turk, spinning him until he fell screaming from the cliff. Vlad emerged from the swarm, and first Îngeraș ran to him, then Mirena joined them, hugging them both tightly. Was it blasphemy to thank God for these powers Vlad now possessed? Because that was exactly what she was doing now. He’d saved her and Îngeraș, and most of their people. There was still hope.

They rejoined the others and continued to the monastery, reaching the safety of its walls shortly before sunrise. Vlad began with withdraw from her, but Mirena pulled him to her side. "Vlad, please, stay with me," she said, cupping his face in her hands. "You do not have to hide what you are from me. I am not afraid."

He caught her hands in his and brought them to his lips. "But I am afraid," he said. "Afraid that I might hurt you. I have to resist this hunger. You and Îngeraș should go rest. I will…be all right."

"Let me distract you," Mirena said, a sudden bold thought taking her. Could he trade one hunger for another? He was rarely able to resist her when she wanted his attention, no matter what he was trying to focus on. Perhaps it would work now to help him. 

She drew him up the stairs of the monastery to the room the monks had given them. He seemed torn, but he followed, shutting the door behind them.

Mirena pushed her husband down on the bed, moving astride him as she pushed his shirt up over his chest. She still marveled at the lack of scars there. She'd memorized them all, had kissed each one hundreds of times, and now they were gone. She moved her lips over the place where each had been and traced the lines of his muscles with her fingertips. His skin seemed cold, and she wanted to warm him.

It didn’t take long for his reluctance to fade, replaced by desire. He groaned and rolled over, pinning her beneath him, his lips crushing hers. His mouth moved to her neck before he abruptly jerked away and brought his focus to her breasts instead, kissing the tops of them that spilled from her gown. She rocked her hips against his, whispering, "I love you, I love you."

He moved lower, pushing her dress up over her hips. For a moment, he hesitated, until she spread her legs invitingly and lifted her hips again. With another groan he sank down between her thighs and began to tease her with lips and tongue. She smiled, pleased with herself for distracting him from one hunger with another, until his tongue flicked in just the right place, wiping the smile from her face as she gasped and moaned. She writhed beneath him, letting pleasure take the place of her own fears and worries. "Vlad!" she cried when she came.

He gently pulled her dress back down and sat up, and she could see on his face he was trying to convince himself to leave. Again she pushed him down, fingers busily unfastening his belt and trousers so she could free his cock, which she was pleased to see was hard and ready. Before he could make any protest, she took him in her mouth. She looked up along his body and saw all the stress drain out of him as he sank back on the bed, as if only for a few moments thoughts of thirst and blood and war and Turks fled his mind. One hand stroked him in the ways she knew he liked best, while she reached for his hand with the other, twining their fingers together as she pleasured him.

"Mirena," he moaned, squeezing her hand, and she knew he was close. She swallowed him as he came, then sat back on her heels, wiping her mouth as she smiled down at him. “You are not the only one who thirsts, my love,” she teased.

He sighed contentedly, pulling her down against him. She snuggled beside him, head on his shoulder, wanting to linger in this moment as long as they could.

The first spasm took them both by surprise. Mirena stiffened and gasped as pain wracked her body. “Mirena, what’s wrong?” Vlad said, sitting up and gathering her in his arms. She reached desperately for him, trying to speak but unable to make the words form. She couldn’t even scream as blackness took her.

* * *

Vlad paced the small room, looking from Mirena’s body to the sunlight outside the window to the door and back again. He didn’t know what had happened. He had to get help. But the sun was out and how would he explain what was going on? He couldn’t even tell if she was alive or dead.

Then she sat up with a gasp, and he was instantly at her side. “Mirena?” he said, touching her face. “Are you all right?”

She looked around in wild confusion, reaching for him and crushing his hand in her grip. Then she drew back and clamped her hands over her ears. “Why is it so loud?” she moaned.

“Loud?” Vlad repeated, looking around the relatively quiet room. The people outside preparing armor and weapons and fortifications for the coming attack were making a great deal of a commotion, but he’d learned very quickly to tune out most of the noises around him after his transformation.

His transformation.

“Oh, God, no,” he said. “What have I done?”

“What is going on, Vlad?” Mirena said. “I don’t understand. I feel different. I feel….”

“Hungry,” he finished for her. The vampire had tasted his blood then fed Vlad his own. Vlad had tasted Mirena and then…no. It couldn’t be.

“Am I like you now?” Mirena whispered, eyes wide.

“I thought it was just blood,” Vlad said. “God forgive me.”

The panic drained from Mirena as she rose and moved about the room. “Then I am as strong as you,” she said. “We can both protect our son.” She carefully moved her fingertips to the sunlight streaming through the window, then yanked her hand back with a hiss.

He’d failed. He was damned. But he couldn’t allow that to happen to Mirena. “Whatever happens, you have to resist the hunger,” he warned. “You just have to make it three days….” He trailed off. He hadn’t even made two.

Mirena smiled up at him, eyes bright. “Perhaps this is not a curse, but a gift from God,” she said. “We can protect Îngeraș and our people. We can defeat the Turks with this power.”

“But at what cost?” Vlad said, shaking his head. “Mirena, you cannot.”

“Let us survive this next fight,” Mirena said. “There is no cost you will not pay to protect Îngeraș. I am no different.”

Vlad pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “May God forgive us both,” he murmured against her hair, knowing she was right. He’d done a great deal of damage to the army of the Turks, but there were so many of them. Alone, he might yet still prevail. But with Mirena at his side….

Sometimes the world no longer needed a hero. Sometimes what it needed was a monster. Or two.

* * *

The Master Vampire smiled as he stepped from his lair in Broken Tooth Mountain. The curse that bound him there was broken, which mean Vlad had succumbed to his hunger. He supposed he should have warned him that it was not only blood that he could feed upon, but where was the fun in that? 


End file.
